Public health activities, including public health responses to communicable diseases, are carried out at the state and local level by the Department of Health, the Washington State Board of Health, and local health jurisdictions.

The secretary of health is required to investigate outbreaks and epidemics of diseases and advise local health officers on measures to control such outbreaks and epidemics.

Local health jurisdictions are required to prevent the spread of dangerous, contagious, or infectious diseases and take measures necessary to promote the public health. Local health jurisdictions are also required to institute disease control measures, including testing, counseling, treatment, and vaccination.

It is the policy of the state that public health responses to address communicable diseases be guided by the best available science on the safety and efficacy of evidence-based measures to control the spread of such diseases, including immunizations and vaccines.

State and local officials must, within available resources, implement and promote evidence-based, appropriate measures to control the spread of communicable diseases, including immunizations and vaccines.

The state and its political subdivisions may not enact statutes, ordinances, rules, or policies that prohibit the implementation and promotion of such measures. Any such statute, ordinance, rule, or policy is declared null and void.

PRO: The bill is essential for ensuring that Washingtonians have access to accurate, science-based public health information regarding vaccines and disease prevention. Communicable diseases like measles, polio, and COVID-19 have historically been controlled through effective public health messaging and vaccination efforts, and misinformation threatens to undo decades of progress. The bill is a necessary measure to protect the public's right to reliable health guidance by explicitly allowing state and local health officials to share evidence-based information without interference.

Public education plays a vital role in disease prevention, reducing hospitalizations, health care costs, and unnecessary suffering. The bill does not impose vaccine mandates but ensures that people receive factual, research-backed health information so they can make informed choices. Misinformation can have deadly consequences, as past outbreaks of preventable diseases due to declining vaccination rates have shown. Trustworthy information empowers individuals and communities to take appropriate health measures and avoid preventable public health crises.

CON: The bill grants the government excessive control over public health messaging and could be used to silence alternative viewpoints on vaccines and disease prevention. The bill's language is overly vague, failing to clearly define what qualifies as best available science. This could lead to state-sanctioned narratives that restrict open debate. It lays the groundwork for future government overreach, creating a precedent for increased state intervention in personal medical decisions. Public health guidance should not be dictated by government officials alone, as history has shown that scientific consensus can change and that dissenting medical opinions have sometimes been unfairly suppressed.

There is a lack of transparency in how public health decisions are made and whether local communities will have a say in how information is shared, should this bill pass. Past public health measures, such as social distancing guidelines and COVID-19 vaccine rollouts, were rushed or inconsistent, leading to a decline in trust in government health agencies. Instead of consolidating power under state authorities, public health discussions should remain open, inclusive, and free from government-imposed restrictions on information sharing.

PRO: Representative Dan Bronoske, Prime Sponsor; Caitlin Safford, Office of the Governor; Tao Kwan-Gett, State Health Officer, Washington Department of Health; Carey Morris, Parent; Jay Miller, Health Officer, Tacoma Pierce County Health Department; Sheila Berschauer, Moses Lake Community Health Center; Jan Nichols, Polio Pioneers; Carrie Horwitch, MD, MPH; Tyler Breier, Parent, Public Health Nurse; Beth Ebel, WA Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics; Rex Johnson, Washington Advocates for Patient Safety; Ashlin Mountjoy; Jaime Bodden, WSALPHO; Amy Brackenbury, Washington State Public Health Association.

PRO: Maria Huang, WA Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.